Process of and machine for casting steel ingots



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1..

G. W. BILLINGS.

PROCESS 0E AND MACHINE POR CASTING STEEL INGCTS.

Patented Peb. 7,1882.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

G. W. BILLINGS.

PROCESS 0E AND MACHINE' EOE CASTING STEEL INGOTS.

No. 253,176. Patented Feb. 7,1882..

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NVENTORZ if BY l i i ATTORNEY.

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UNITED STATES PATENT EETcE.

GEORGE W.`BILLIGS, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

PROCESS OF AND MACHINE FO'R' CASTING STEEL INGO'l'S.`

SPECIFICATIONFforming part of Letters Patent No. 253,176, dated February '7, 188.2. Application nica october 29, resi. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W.B1LLINc.s, of Cleveland, Ohio, have invented a new and useful Process of and Machine for Oastin g and Welding Steel Ingots, of which invention the following is a specification. v

It is well known to steel-manufacturers that all steel ingots, but especially those having a greater area in cross-section than twenty-ve square inches, contain blow holes or cavities to a greater or less extent, and thelarger the ingot the more numerous and thelarger the cavities. This unsound or porous condition of the :ingotv renders a large part of it unit for use, or if susceptible of use it is only as inferior metal.

The object of my invention is to overcome this defective character of steel ingots;A and it consists of the process and machine which lI will now proceed to d-escribe.

In the annexed drawings,formingparthereof, Figure 1 is an elevation ot' the machine; Fig. 2, a vertical section of the same on the line my ofFig. 6; Fig. 3, aplan of the tie-frame at the top of the lower tie-rods; Fig. 4, a plan ot' the sectional flange at the joint-in the hydraulic cylinder; Fig. 5, a plan ot' the top end ot' the steam-cylinder; Fig. 6, a plan of the bed-plate of the machine; Fig. 7, a vertical sectiomand Fig. 8 a plan, on an enlarged scale, of the ingot-mold and of the frame on which it rests; Fig. 9, an elevation of the ingot-mold and of its supporting-frame and ot' the end of the compression-plate with its friction-rollers 5 Fig. l0, a plan of the iron block that forms the bottom of the ingot-mold, Fig. l1, a vertical section of the ingot-mold and of the core used in casting hollowingots.

Similar letters referto similar parts in the several views.'

The frame of the machine is formed vin two sections, a lower and an upper section. The lower section consists ot' four similar wroughtiron columns ortie-rods, each four inches in diameter and twenty-one feet in length, two of them (marked albeingshown inA Figs. 1 and 2. These rods are securely bolted or keyed to the bed-plate b at their lower ends and to the cast or wrought iron frame c at their upper ends. The bed-plate b rests on solid masonry. The

upper section of the frame of the machine is formed of four, similar columns or tie-rods,two ot' them (marked d) being shown in Figs. land 2 bolted or keyed at their lower ends to the tie-frames c and at their upper ends to a cast or wrought iron tie-frame, e, Figs.1, 2, 8, and 9.

f, Figs. 1 and 2, is an ordinary steam-cylinder of tive feet diameter and four-feet stroke.

f/ is the piston in cylinder f.

l1J is a cylinder ot' smaller diameter, bolted yat its lower extremity to the piston g, and acting as the piston-rod thereto.

i is the piston of the smaller cylinder h, and j is' the piston-rod thereto. The cylinder 7L and rod j extend through the upper head of the cylinderf, as shown in Fig. 2. The rod y' is secured to the eye of stay k by any known device, so as to carry the stay with it in its movement up or down. The stay 7c is connected with the jacketed tie-rods d, diagonally situated, by straps l, which permit the stay to slide up and down with the rod j.

m is a solid block of cast-iron, keyed or bolted to the upper end of the rod j. This block forms the bottom of the ingot-mold when the ingotA is being cast therein. The top surface of the block m is provided with a dovetailcd tapering transverse slot, u, Fig. l0, in which slot a key, o, is driven. The upper surface of the key o projects above the upper surface of the block m, and is turned over, all as shown' in Fig. 1, forming a projection, around which the metal chills, and thus fastens the ingot to said block, m.

p is the ingot-mold, which is here shown to be three .and a halt' feet long and ten inches square inside. It is formed of wrought or cast iron or steel, with rounded corners, as shown in Fig. 8. It has double walls, which inclose an annular space, q,for water or steam,or both, which is admitted through a pipe, i, at top, and is allowed to escape through a pipe, s, at the bottom of the mold. The mold is protected inside by a lining, t, of black lead or other suitable refractory materials, which lining rests on a ledge or ring, u, that is riveted to the mold. The mold p is supported in the frame e by angle-irons c.

w is the compression-plate. It consists ot'a heavy bar of iron or steel, occupying a position IOO immediately' under the moldp. It is moved into and out of its position under the mold by means of a hand-lever or hook.

z is a pipe inclosing another pipe, a2, Fig. 2, which is open at its lower end and attached at its upper end to the steam-eylinder piston g, with which it moves np and down. The pipe z is connected at b2 by means of a pipe (not shown) furnished with an ordinary stop valve with a supply of water under pressure, and it is emptied at will through a stop-valve at c2.

d2 is an aperture through the steam-cylinder piston g. Through this aperture the water from pipe a2 passes up through the piston q into the hydraulic cylinder h below its piston l2 is an aperture for admitting water into the cylinder 71 at the top of this cylinder. This aperture is connected with the supply7 of water under pressure by ordinary flexible pipes (not shown) capable of extension and contraction without severing their connections when the cylinder h moves up and down.

Each of the tie-rods d ot' the upper section of the frame is surrounded by an ordinary tubular wroughbiron jacket, large enough in diameter to inelose an annular spaee,f2, for water between it and the rod it surrounds. The several jackets are connected together by pipes (not shown) forminga single system, the water for cooling the tie-rods d being introduced anywhere at the top of the jackets, as at cock g, and being allowed to flow out atthe bottom of the jackets through a pipe, as

at h2.

In making an ingot I proceed as follows: Water is admitted through the pipe a? into the cylinder h, raising the piston Vt' and its rod j, and thus carrying the block m up until it occupies the position'indicated by dotted lines in the mold p. The joints between the block m and the sides of the mold are stopped with fire-clay or other suitable material, and the molten steel is then poured into the mold from the ladle or furnace in the ordinary way, filling the .mold up to within a few inches of its top. The stop-valve c2 is then opened, and the water in the cylinder h below the piston i is allowed to run out gradually, thus lowering the pistonrod j, and with it the block m and the ingot in process offormation. At the same time the molten metal is being poured into the mold, and the pouring continues until the piston li has reached the bottom of cylinder h, when the block m occupies the position shown in Fig. 2, supporting the ingot, which extends up therefrom nearly to the bottom of the mold, leaving a space between it and the bottom of the mold sufficient for the insertion of the compression-plate zr, which is then inserted. The key ois then driven out of its seat in the block m, releasing the ingot from the block. The valve t" in the sleam-cylinderf is now opened for the escape of the steam above the piston g, and the valve i2 in said cylinder is opened for the admission of steam below the piston g, the effect beingto lift the piston g, and with it the smaller cylinder h and its piston-rod j, and the block m, carrying the ingot up and pressing it with great force against the plate w, compressing the ingot to any required extent. Thus, supposing that steam of one hundred pounds to the square inch of the piston g is used, a pressure of two hundred and fifty thousand pounds is brought to bear on an ingot of ten inches sectional crossarea. After the ingot has been compressed in the manner describedit is removed by means of a hydraulic crane in the usual way.

The machine represented in the drawings is intended for ingots ten or twelve inches square in cross-sectional area, and sixteen feet in length before compression; but the machine may be varied in size, as required, for the production of ingots of different lengths and diameters or crosssectional area.

To prevent buckling of the ingot when it is being compressed, guides or stays supported from the tie-rods may be placed at different points along the length of the ingot when the ingot is ready for compression and before the compression, and these guides may be afterward removed before bringing the block m up again into its position in themold preparatory to casting another ingot.

In casting ingots of large diameter, if cores are required, they can be placed inside the mold on the block m, as shown in Fig. 11. These cores may be formed in one suciently long piece, or they may each be composed of sections, the bottom section in this case being placed in the mold before the pouring begins, and its length increased by adding other sections to it as the pouring proceeds.

' In casting steel ingots in an ordinary mold the mold rests on a solid stationary plate of iron or steel, which plate forms the molds bottom. With such a mold it has not been found practicable to make ingots exceeding ve feet in length, for the reason that if the metal is poured into the mold from the top the lower end of the ingot is rendered unsound and unt for use, and if the metal is introduced into the mold through the bottom by means of a sprne the metal will not rise beyond a certain point before cooling, while at the same time a large amount of metal remains in the sprue and is lost as waste at each cast or pouring.

I am aware that a moving plunger hasbeon used and operated by the slow action of hydraulic power, which is not quick enough in its action to produce the resultobtained in my invention,in which live steam actuates a plunger or presser, as steam acts with greater celerity than water, and in order to compress or weld the semi-fluid metal together in the ingot but a few seconds of time is passed before the metal is solidified by cooling, and the particles of metal will not thereafter unite and adhere or weld together.

I claim- 1. The continuous process of making and IOO IIO

IIS

compressing steelingots by pouringthe molten rute bottomless ingot-mold, and an adjustable steel into the mold and at the same time graducompression-plate, .substan tially as Aand for the 1o' ally lowering the ingotr until it has reached the purpose set forth. required length and then compressing the ingot lengthwise, substantially as set forth. GEO' BILLINGS' 2. The steam-cylinderf and its piston g, the Witnesses: l, water-cylinder h and its piston-rod j, in eomv J o HN A. WIEDERSHEIM, bination with` an ingotmold bottom, a sepa- W. E. KIROHER. 

